Hello lovely Equines, Welcome to another instalment of Emma's History Blog!
As you all know, I'm a big fan of history and I find it so interesting to look back and imagine life for our ancestors in years gone by. Today I'm taking us back to the year 1023. Can you imagine what the world would have been like for a horse then? So different from now!
As I trot across the sun-dappled meadows here at Hayfield near Aberdeen, I feel so lucky to live in such a peaceful and modern era. But even back then, life wasn't all work and no play! As a grey draught mare with a white mane and tail, my life was quite varied, to be honest! In fact, just the other day I had a wonderful day on a trip to the market town. Let me tell you about it!
First, I woke before the sun, which always feels rather early! It's not that I'm not a morning horse, you see. It's just that, well, the longer I get to sleep in, the longer I get to dream! But on this particular day, our human companion - whose name is Robert, a lovely chap, even if he doesn't always get my jokes! - came into the stables calling, "Emma, come on girl! We have work to do!"
Robert said, "We're going to the market in the town today!" Oh, how I do enjoy a day at the market. It's such a bustle of activity!
The morning dew felt cool on my coat as I trotted, all glossy and strong, to the cart Robert had prepared. He had gathered baskets of our freshly gathered barley, vegetables, and even some sheep wool to trade. There was also a woven cloth and a few bottles of his father's lovely homemade mead, which was for sale. You'd be surprised how much demand there is for good mead in the north!
With all the cart laden, Robert gave me a good scratch between the ears and a little pat on the nose before we set off!
As we walked down the winding road, it wasn't so early anymore. The sun was rising and all the other farm animals, you see, had also woken and were bleating and baaing. They were all going about their day, but I always do love seeing them; you know, my equine companions - I do like a chat, or at least a little nuzzle - well, sometimes they can be a little grumpy in the morning! Sometimes even Robert and the sheep can't help but get caught in the way of some rather good morning "Neighs" from me! A little humour is what we all need!
The trip was enjoyable and filled with all sorts of things to see! It truly did make my tail swish, and my mane seemed to lift and ripple, so proud and elegant I felt! We went past farm fields, full of wheat and oats, and sheep with lambs, and we saw other farm animals on their own morning errands, as Robert likes to say, "It's like an everyday ballet for farm animals!"
At the edge of the village we met two other horses and their riders. The horses were both quite young and sleek, the brown one a chestnut and the other a bay. Robert spoke with the riders - the men both seemed tired and hot! Their faces had deep lines like an old, well-worn leather strap and you could see how much the road had been dusty and tough on them. Their saddles seemed tired and their legs tired too.
It made me feel proud to be a grey draught!
"Hello there, friends. What's bringing you here this fine morning?" said Robert. "Not too much in your packs, I imagine." Robert was rather right. They didn't have very full sacks, although their leather containers - full of, well, you know... ale - were quite hefty. Robert didn't say a lot more because, well, we were near the edge of the market now and that meant business!
Ah, yes! I see some of you asking, what's a horse like me doing at the market in the year 1023? Don't worry, I know a lot of my readers may be curious about this. It may come as a surprise to some of you - and as we go along I can see it clearly in the chatroom, there is plenty of curiosity about what our lives would have been like then. I always do like to offer up my thoughts and try to answer any questions. It makes it all more real. It makes it alive and breathing! Don't you find that? And besides, as we journey through this blog - in fact, every one of these blogs is about horses and life as we have it! Yes, I said, horses - including your horse and my horse, our equine ancestors - in other words: our equine FAMILY. Well, anyway! The market!
A lot of people, all dressed in brown clothes, with heavy sandals, were gathering and milling around in the marketplace, just waiting to trade. It really is an exciting spectacle, and the humans were chatting in groups and doing business. Robert, very deftly, maneuvered us around. I really do have to give Robert some praise because he's so clever when we are at markets!
I was impressed! We exchanged the goods Robert had gathered and it seemed we would have a good amount of barley and sheep's wool in our wagon by the end of the day! Oh, how I loved to watch those humans exchange! They seem to haggle so very politely. In the end we had lots of barley to carry home and two new horseshoes and nails - that made me really happy! New shoes always feel so much nicer to wear. It took a good two hours for Robert to trade everything we had.
We had had a little break in a hay loft above a pub - it is good for us working horses to eat some fresh hay during the day. The horses also enjoy that hay loft, even if I admit to being quite curious about what they would tell me about life down in the stable, and who else was visiting this year. It always does stir my curiosity. You can imagine my intrigue at seeing them in a marketplace when there was nothing else there to do but talk. I thought perhaps we might share our wisdom but the humans did come to take them back to work! That meant that they only had some straw from the pub, which was still fine, although a bit dusty for the humans to sleep on!
You can imagine how delighted they were to be off with the last bottle of ale! Oh dear! But I could tell that their journey would be much faster for them. We can tell a lot about humans through their movements. You know what I mean? Like watching an eagle in the air! Well, even if you are on the ground it is true that a horse can read those who are moving above them. You wouldn't want to be caught under the gaze of a very determined eagle... and don't forget that horses have a way of seeing things humans might miss!
That is where Robert came and asked if I'd had a nice long snack. Oh, what a happy fellow he is - well, all the better! But really, we must get back. I was a good girl as always, because that is what we working horses have to do. It is important for Robert to know that I'm the strongest in his yard!
"It's time to return home. All our goods have been exchanged. And well done for your strength and for your good manners! Even the horses looked on with pride - especially the Chestnut with the rather unruly tail! Well, I hear there are other stories they could tell, but for the sake of your manners you shall not hear these tales until later!" said Robert!
You see? That's how things are with horses and humans back then. Our duty was to the farm, and it seems I'm not the only one who likes a good market visit! I think the others all agree... it would be far too much to give them voice now - especially the horses I met, as the night wore on. It was one thing to see them during the day - their faces looked rather worn from the road, so I suppose my gentle gaze must have come as a comfort for them as much as the ale did. We horses do like to share!
They reminded me of something, you know? About how we've always loved sharing! That is, you know, to a certain extent. When we have extra oats or sugar we enjoy giving it to other animals on our land - a bit of sharing in the stables. We might even share a joke or two! And that is all I can share now. It's been so lovely chatting with all of you - but now I need to eat a good amount of hay - before I rest under the starry sky... which always looks rather different up in Scotland! And of course, we horses have always been a curious bunch. If you are an avid reader then you already know - the stories continue as long as we have horses in this world. And just like the old saying goes, "If a horse could talk..." you see how quickly stories could get shared.
So thank you for joining me today for this walk through the past and keep up the wonderful work you're doing - for all of us here on EquiWorld. And until we meet next week... Happy trotting!
